


An Angel Among Men

by mom_friend_TM



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Never Happened, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mom_friend_TM/pseuds/mom_friend_TM
Summary: Worship and love are two different things.
Relationships: Simon Laurent/Grace Monroe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	An Angel Among Men

"No, it's not like that..."

Grace Monroe lay on her side, curled up with her legs tucked into her chest comfortably, mumbling to herself. The lights of the Mall Car dimmed slowly as bedtime was declared for the rest of the Apex children. The air conditioning unit sputtered above her head, as if to disagree, before returning to it's usual even-toned hum. Grace groaned, rolling to her other side and pulling the pillow over her ears. Her eyes twisted shut violently, as if she was deep in thought, but there really wasn't much thinking going on. In her head, it was simply a repeat of the same phrase over and over again. "It's not like that, it's not like that, it's not like that..." Obviously, the air conditioning unit was influencing her ability to think straight. She'd tear it off of the wall if it wasn't the only thing keeping her slightly cool in the arid air the train always managed to keep, in this infinite and vast wasteland. 

* * *

Simon shooed the last of the Apex into bed for the night. Grace seemed off today, so he handled the children for the night so she could go to bed early. She obviously needed the rest. His eyes had easily adjusted to the darkness of the car, but from the cracks underneath the door to Grace's room emanated a light so bright that it drew him over. He noted his moth-like quality while on his way over, rationalizing it as simple curiosity - obviously a light that bright had to be made by some cool artifact she snatched at the last raid and was hiding from him. 

He knocked on her door gently, hoping he wasn't waking her. He stood for a few seconds, waiting as her heard shuffling around slowly from the other side of the door. Her door opened creakily, hinges worn from the crowd of kids who would come in and out of her room daily. 

The sight of Grace, weary from her self-inflicted mental torment, hair messy from rolling around, the light of her bedside lamp illuminating the space behind her, and Simon felt as if he had just awoken from the most restful sleep of his life. The wisps out of place were caught by the light in such a way that he almost mistook her and her pure beauty for an angel, or a painting. The worry lines formed on his face from the thought that she might be unhappy in any way melted away. She melted everything away. He was so caught up in looking at her, he didn't notice he was staring. Grace stood for a bit, waiting for him to say anything, and then waved her hand in his face. 

"Hello..?" she chuckled lightly, and Simon shook his head, blinking a couple times, a blush spreading across his face as he realized what he had done. 

"Oh- haha.. uh- I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed kind of weird today." Simon's eyes softened with care. Grace, noticing this change in expression, looked away. "Yeah, I'm fine." She glanced around, looking everywhere _but_ at him.

She began to close the door again, and he stepped back instinctively. "Wait- Grace-" he began, but the door was already shut. Shame flooded his mind. Why the hell did he act like that? He's so weird. Why can't he just be normal and cool around her? Maybe then it'll make her like him back. He sighed, and returned to his room.

* * *

Grace turned away from the door and slid down, head in hands. She could never tell him what was wrong, because she knows he would be upset about it. It's a violation of his privacy, after all. She was the one who found something, not unusual, but different enough that it changed how she thought about things.

Yesterday morning, Simon was with the older children cleaning and repairing equipment to prepare for the next raid by the entrance to the car, while Grace entertained the younger ones with the fables and fairy tales she could remember from her childhood by the cafeteria. She sat with paper and crayons, quickly scribbling drawings to go with her story to keep the children engaged. She was never the most creative one of the two of them, but she knew Simon would want peace and quiet from the young ones for the evening. He seemed tense, she wanted to give him a moment to relax and still be productive. While trying her best to recreate _The Princess and the Pea_ from memory, a particularly sneaky child came up to her side and tapped her shoulder. She turned with a patient smile, and was shown a neatly written poem, diction precise and rhyming rhythmically - much too complex for one of the children she was with to have come up with. 

"What's 'eff-er-vesk-ant' mean, Grace?" he asked innocently, slowly pronouncing each syllable in the hopes he got it right. She took the paper from his hands, and answered with her sweetest voice "That's a good question, but I'll answer yours if you answer mine first. Where did you get this?" He tilted his head and smiled, finger going to his nose- ah, five year olds. "Simon's room." He knew he was in trouble now. "You know you're not supposed to be in there, Zack." She reminded him sternly. "But _effervescent_ means happy. Why don't you sit down with everyone else, and we'll tell a cool story about knights and dragons. Does that sounds fun?" She smiled, and the boy - Zack - skipped over to find a seat at the cafeteria table, wiggling in between two other kids. Grace folded the sheet of paper and put it in her pocket. Curiosity got the better of her- she wanted to read it. Later that day, she sat at her desk and unloaded her pockets, leaving it on the desk in a pile of other things she'd collected or confiscated, forgotten. She went to sleep without glancing at it once.

When she awoke, getting ready for the morning by going through the motions, she looked through her pile for things she was due to return soon. She noticed the paper, unfolding it and reading it in full without a second thought. There were no names in the poem, but she knew what it was about. It was a love poem, addressed to her, and about her. How cliche. It was about a girl, and how she was so beautiful she was godlike, and how she had earned his pure worship, she had replaced his God. She was "an angel, walking among the unworthy man."

She normally would have scoffed, returning it to him saying "I didn't even read it." or joking about who this mystery girl was, but for some reason, it struck her differently today. For some reason. one verse stuck out specifically. For some reason, she realized his feelings for her were more than just a "little crush" now. For some reason, she didn't think her feelings were as simple as a "little crush" either. This idea of him worshipping her was flattering, but a little creepy. She liked him, but she wanted them to be together like a normal couple, not like some weird dominatrix S&M couple- wait. She wanted to be with him? Like a couple? What? She hit her head against the desk she was sat at, eyebrows furrowed, more confused by her own thoughts than anything else.

Why did he have to make things so complicated?

**Author's Note:**

> i didnt write in the poem he wrote because it would be so bad  
> also no beta we die like men


End file.
